Just two days ago, point guard Ricky Rubio was working out on the floor of the TD Garden in Boston, hoisting shots and trying to bring himself up to something close to game speed. He didn’t look like a guy who was ready for game action, and speaking before the game, Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman discussed how his team has been able to hang in the Western Conference standings despite not having their ace point man.

Despite that, according to a report from ESPN 1500 in Minnesota, Rubio might be closer to a return than most expect—he could even be pushing to play tonight when the Timberwolves face the Cavaliers at Target Center in Minneapolis.

Such a quick return would be a surprisingly fast recovery for Rubio, who tore his ACL and LCL in March, had surgery on March 21 and was expected to need at least nine months to recover. He returned to Timberwolves practice last weekend, and the team wanted to see how his body responded to that. There was no significant pain but the Wolves are being cautious, even though Rubio may insist that he is ready to take the court again.

Minnesota is 8-9 on the year, and is also anticipating the return of small forward Andrei Kirilenko from back spasms that have sidelined him for the past week.

If Rubio does not play on Friday, he could still make his season debut soon. The Wolves have four days off before their next game, at home on Wednesday against the Nuggets.